WATCH: Michael Eisner says Pompey can be real-life underdog heroes

Mark Acheson

Pompey owner Michael Eisner has spoken of his belief that Pompey can emulate the underdogs in some of Disney's best films.

He outlined his dream at a major conference, saying he'd been inspired by fans who had been so dispirited by disastrous ownerships that they seemed like a distrustful 'abused child' when he emerged as a potential buyer.

Michael Eisner

The 75-year-old American told delegates how Pompey had gone into administration, plunged from the Premiership to League Two and been saved from extinction when fans bought the club.

'The story going down is an unbelievable story and the story coming back is an unbelievable story' said the former Disney boss.

“They [the owning fan group] recognised overwhelmingly that they needed somebody but they had such a bad experience that any name on any piece of paper would have been frightening. Luckily my name is well researched. I hadn’t been to jail, not stolen any money, don’t sell arms. They were like an abused child. They thought: "Oh my god, not another guy!"

He told the Leaders Week summit at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge home that he felt his experience in the entertainment industry was helping him in his new role.

'Everything I’ve done has been involved with storytelling and increasingly telling the story of sports. All of our sports films had one constant theme – the triumph of the underdog over seemingly insurmountable odds.

'This is a story we’ve told time and again in fiction. With Pompey, we hope to get it right in fact' he said in a section of the speech tweeted in video by the conference organisers Leaders Business‏ on their @LeadersBiz account.

'I would say the fans are so similar to the Disney fans. When I went to Disney, it was about to be broken up and liquidated. The fans were so happy that somebody cared.

'We were aware of that, that our relationship with the Disney fans became very real and very quick. And it was very helpful in rejuvenating the company. The fans at Portsmouth are amazingly nice, they care about the team. They know the players. They are a group of people who I really understand.'

Eisner also described as 'insane' the regularity with which many English football clubs changed their manager.

He said: 'If you look at the great sports teams around the world, you try and find a great manager. You stick with him through thick and thin. To have a manager that is on life support from the day he arrived, what kind of confidence can he have in leading a team?

'I just think continuity, teamwork, has to exist off the pitch as well as on the pitch' he said.

Talking about his purchase of the club with his sons Breck, Eric and Anders, he said: 'We decided that soccer was something we wanted to be involved in.

'Investing in U.S. sports is very expensive. American Football has physical problems that scare me. It (investing in Pompey) just seemed like a great thing to do for my family.'